Biography

Oxenbridge succeeded to a fortune probably impaired by litigation, and made further inroads on it by giving his father an elaborate funeral.14 He sought election for Whitchurch at the first opportunity, but although returned he apparently did not take up his seat, and on 13 Mar. 1621 was granted leave of absence because of sickness.15 The following August he obtained a licence to travel abroad, perhaps to Spa for his health; it is not known whether he attended the autumn sitting.16 He took his turn at representing the county in the last Jacobean Parliament in 1624, and was re-elected for Whitchurch in 1625 and 1626, but left no trace in the records of debates. On 25 May 1626 he was again given leave of absence to recover from illness.17 Although still active as a magistrate in 1627, his health and his financial position seem to have deteriorated thereafter, and he did not stand in 1628.18 He borrowed £100 from the widow of the earl of Castlehaven (Sir Mervyn Audley*) in around 1630, and a further £200 from a moneylender; both loans were still outstanding when he died.19 In 1636 he sold Hurstbourne Priors to Sir Henry Wallop* for £1,747 12s. 4d., reserving to himself a rent charge of £200 p.a.20 By May 1638 he was ‘very sick of a high dropsy and other infirmities’. It was alleged that when ‘very dull and heavy’ he had assigned his rent charge to his cousin and heir Edward Oxenbridge, but because his mental capacity was then questionable he had been induced to make a further grant when he was demonstrably in command of his faculties.21 His will, drawn up on 5 Jan. 1638, bequeathed £50 to the poor of Hurstbourne Priors, £8 to the church, and generous sums to friends and servants.22 He left £10 for a ring to his only sister Ursula, who had married (Sir) John Monson* and inherited an estate in Broxbourne, Hertfordshire from their mother.23 Oxenbridge died in the following June and was buried at Hurstbourne church. All his brothers had predeceased him, and no other member of the family sat in Parliament.